Intimations of immortality: an analytical view

Growing up, is it good? Is it bad? What is gained from growing up? What is lost? These are questions that one will inevitably ponder at one point or another in his or her life, that is, if he or she has not already. Questions such as these dealing with the process of growing up, and the effects that come with it, were concerns that weighed strongly on the mind of William Wordsworth. This is clearly demonstrated in his poem, “Ode on Intimations of Immortality.” Writers of the Romantic Era incorporated certain characteristics in their works that strongly opposed the previous ways of writing. Wordsworth realized that contrary to neoclassical belief, humans are composed of more than just reason and order. They also contain a less inhibited side fueled by emotion, passion, imagination, and disorder. Wordsworth brilliantly illustrates many of these characteristics of Romantic poetry through the language and vision of this poem.

In order to understand and recognize the traits that scream Romanticism in “Ode on Intimations of Immortality,” one must first know what they are. Writers of this era were moving towards realism. They revolted against the artificial declamatory speeches and forma

Wordsworth’s use of language in “Ode on Intimations of Immortality” is one way that he demonstrates many of these Romantic characteristics. The language he uses in this particular poem is a little more formal than that of many of his other poems, yet remains still much less formal than that of the previous era. Lines 37 and 38 are examples of this: “Ye blessed Creatures, I have heard the call / Ye to each other make....” Another Romantic trait found throughout this poem is that of descriptive passages that appeal to the senses. “Fresh flowers; while the sun shines warm, / And the Babe leaps up on his Mother’s arm:--/ I hear, I hear, with joy I hear!” (49-50). A great similie that he uses in lines 151 and 152 also reveals intense feeling, “High instincts before which our mortal Nature / Did tremble like a guilty Thing surprised:.” Another use of language that Wordsworth used in order to emphasize certain words was syntax. “To whom the grave / Is but a lonely bed without the sense or sight / Of day or the warm light, / A place of thought where we in waiting lie;” (122-125) is an excellent example of this. Wordsworth arranges the word order of this sentence so that the word “lie” is emphasized, reminding the reader of the “lonely bed” or grave. The way he allows his thoughts to govern the lines instead of the lines to govern his thoughts is also an impressive use of language in this

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